A/N: Hey guys! I hope you guys don't hate me for updating too quickly. Literally, what even is my updating schedule. If you followed Safekeeping, you'll know that I sorta just update whenever the hell I want- but it was always somewhere between two and seven days, so never too long of a wait.

Thanks to everybody who's followed and favorited this so far, and extra love to everybody who left a comment! Knowing people's thoughts on my writing really inspires me to keep going and shows me what you guys want to see.

I forgot to mention last chapter that I'm switching perspectives each chapter. First was May's, obviously, and this one is Steven's! If Chapter One served to introduce who May is as a character, then Chapter Two will definitely do the same for Steven. I hope you guys enjoy!

Steven Stone had not had a good day.

It had started out well enough- the sun was shining in Rustboro City, children were out playing with their Pokemon in the park, and everything seemed to be perfect. Steven made it to work without delay, and by the time he was upstairs in his office, his needed paperwork was set out and organized and there was a steaming mug of coffee on his desk ready for him to drink. Today was the launch of the new PokeNav Plus, and Steven's father was supposed to be coming back to Hoenn to host the release. He was supposed to come back and take all of the weight off of Steven's shoulders, at least for a little while.

Except that he didn't.

Steven called his father at nine A.M. sharp, just to confirm that the man was on his way to the airport and also to inform him that he had arranged for his ride and that everything was settled. There was to be a launch event at a Devon store in Lilycove city, where a few lucky patrons would be getting the new PokeNav for free. While Steven had had to make all of the arrangements and prepare for the event himself, he was glad that his father was coming back into town to host the event himself.

Except that when Steven called and asked his father if he was at the airport yet and the man responded with a lengthy silence, Steven knew that that wouldn't be the case.

"There's been a... change of plans. It turns out that I'm going to be staying in Kalos for a while." Mr. Stone laughed sheepishly.

Steven shut his eyes and used the fingers of his hand that wasn't holding the phone to press hard into his temple. "How long?" he asked. He opened his eyes and made eye contact with one of his secretaries, who was sitting at her desk out in the main room. She must have been able to read the annoyance in his eyes, for she jumped up at an alarming pace and quickly pulled his door shut with a click.

His father paused again. "A few weeks, at least," he finally answered. Steven couldn't discern the man's exact tone.

Steven hissed out the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding in. "You realize that the launch of your new product is today, right?" he asked, trying to maintain a professional tone. He curled his fingers into a lock of hair and tugged, hard, in annoyance. It helped to ground him a bit.

"Well, son, it's your product, too!" his father defended, and Steven rolled his eyes. "And I believe that you can handle this launch yourself. It'll be good practice, too, for when you take over the company!"

Steven had a lot of comments to make in response-most of them in relation to how maybe that's not what he wanted- but it was an age-old argument and he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere right now. "Alright," he said instead, through his teeth.

The conversation didn't last long; Steven didn't have much more he could say. Instead, he had to hurry back to his apartment and get changed. He normally wore the same dress clothes to work, but as this was a dressier event, he changed into something nicer before heading out to Lilycove.

The event started at noon, and by the time he arrived at eleven, there was already a crowd outside. He ducked in through the back, feeling that it was going to be a long day.

And it was. Even after the promotional events were over, many patrons and reporters had questions to ask him about the new PokeNav, its features, and future Devon projects. By the time the store owners had shooed all of the curious customers out of the store, most holding brand new PokeNavs, it was nearing six o'clock.

As much as he wished that he could go home then, he still had to attend the dinner with the store's owner that he had originally booked for his father. Though the dinner was at a nice restaurant and the store owner was quite charming, Steven had to suffer through several hours of questions that were basically repeats of his entire day.

When he left the restaurant, it was only around nine, but he was already exhausted and ready to go to sleep. Instead of making the long journey back to Rustboro, he simply flew to his house in Mossdeep.

He had had the house for years, despite never being there. He really only stayed there when he was traveling on this side of the region. As he had to go to work at Devon Corp every day, it was simply more practical to keep an apartment in Rustboro. Still, it was nice having a place where he knew he could go if he ever needed to get away from his father. He was pretty sure that the man didn't even know that he still kept the place under lease.

The door was unlocked when he got there, and as always, he was shocked that it hadn't been raided by looters. Everything still seemed to be intact, though. The air smelled musty, and Steven grimaced; one of the disadvantages to having a house near the sea that you never maintained was that it took a lot of water damage.

Heading immediately to the bedroom, he emptied the contents of his pockets out onto his nightstand and stripped down to his boxers, climbing into the clean sheets. Despite the tiredness that he had just been overcome with, he found himself restless and unable to sleep. The sheets felt too cold, too lifeless. It was like he was sleeping in a hotel and not in his own house.

He must have eventually drifted off to sleep, for not very much later he was rudely awoken by a ringing on his nightstand. Only half-awake, he fumbled for his phone, first picking up his PokeNav instead (and cursing himself in the back of his mind for not yet having perfected the Match Call function on it; it would be so much easier to have everything programmed onto his PokeNav rather than having to carry a PokeNav and a cell phone). He dropped the piece of Devon tech back onto the nightstand and grabbed his phone, putting it to his ear and clicking the "Talk" button to stop the incessant ringing.

"... 'lo?" he murmured, clearing his throat and rubbing at his eyes with one hand.

"Mr. Stone? This is Melissa from the Oceanic Museum in Slateport City. I'm calling to inform you that there's been a break-in, and also that some Devon parts were stolen from Captain Stern at the docks."

Steven sat up, his eyes shooting open. "... Sorry, who did you say you are?"

"Melissa? From the Oceanic Museum in-"

"How did you get this personal line, exactly?" Steven asked in the most polite way possible (which was probably not at all), swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment to check the time: 10:42.

"Well, Sir, I was directed to call your father, and he informed me that he was out of the region and gave me your number. He said that you would know how to handle this situation."

Steven took a deep breath, counting to three in his head before letting it out. He dropped his head into his hand, tugging at his hair. "I'll be there shortly."

Hanging up the phone, he pushed himself off the bed with a groan. He stared at his crumpled up clothes on the floor, grimacing. He hadn't touched the clothes in his closet here in ages, and was sure they all smelled like mothballs. So, he pulled on his black slacks and white dress shirt from the day and tucked his belongings- phone, PokeNav, keys, wallet, and three Pokeballs- into his pockets.

It was going to be a long night.

Despite it being past eleven at night when Steven arrived, Slateport was still lit up like a Christmas tree. From above on his Skarmory, Steven could see lights and a crowd around the Contest Hall, as well as around the Oceanic Museum. Steven landed outside the latter, and was immediately barred by a police officer standing guard outside the door before he could even call his Pokemon back.

"I'm sorry, Sir," the officer said, reaching his arm out and blocking Steven's way. "This is a crime scene. The museum is closed."

Steven closed his eyes for half a second, trying to keep his composure. "I'm Steven Stone," he said, despite hating playing the name-game. "I was called here to represent Devon Corporation."

The police officer's eyes widened as he seemed to recognize Steven. "O-oh, I'm sorry, Sir! Go right ahead!" He stepped out of the way, looking embarrassed.

Steven smiled politely at the officer before calling Skarmory back and pushing his way through the door. Inside, some museum staff were being questioned by more police officers. Steven spotted Captain Stern across the room and quickly hurried over to him.

Steven didn't want to be there right now; really, he didn't. But any time there was a high-profile crime related to a Devon product, a representative from Devon had to come and oversee the investigation. And, technically, Steven had the power to call another one of the higher-ups and tell them to go and take care of it, but it was late and it was a Friday night; most of the people who Steven could have called would be in bed with their spouses and ready for a weekend with their families. While Steven himself hated having to be here, he would have felt even worse forcing someone else to endure it.

"Captain Stern," he said when he made it to the other man, nodding and reaching out to shake the man's hand. "Steven Stone, from Devon Corp."

Stern shook his hand a bit hesitantly, eyeing him up. "Where's your father?" he asked in a gruff voice. Steven frowned.

"Out of the region," he muttered. "... on business." The second part wasn't exactly true, but Stern didn't seem to be the type of man to believe in vacations. Stern nodded and didn't say anything else, so Steven continued, "So, what exactly happened here?"

Stern leaned against one of displays and Steven's eyes widened a bit in alarm. "A gang callin' themselves Team Magma broke into my shipyard and stole some parts of mine. The parts I ordered from Devon last week, actually. Then, they fled to the museum, probably to steal somethin' else."

He stopped there, so Steven pressed on, "And then what?"

Stern shrugged. "There was a young girl here. I didn't catch her name. But she battled them. Kicked their asses, too. She got the parts back and then chased after them when they left."

Steven furrowed his brow. "A young girl? What did she look like?"

Stern seemed to think about it for a second. "Short. Brown hair, in pigtails. She battled with a Combusken."

Steven perked up immediately. May. Though he had only met the girl once, just a week ago now, she had been prevalent in his mind recently. He was unable to get her spark out of his head; even from just a brief conversation, he had been able to see so much potential in her and knew that she would go far. "Do you know where she went?" he blurted out. He took a second to compose himself. "Excuse me. You said that she chased after them? Did she follow them out of town?"

Stern frowned, perhaps wondering why Steven was so interested. "Uh... no. The police asked around town for a while, but apparently she just drove them out of town and then hung around by herself for a while. Went to the market, stocked up on stuff, and everythin'. Everybody in town is claiming to have seen her at this point; maybe they all want to say they know the girl who's making news for being a hero, or something. But she was also apparently stopped by that... Lisia, or whatever her name is. Down at the Contest Hall. Tried to recruit her for a contest, or somethin', but instead she fled town."

"She didn't stay?" Steven asked, frowning. What was it with May, leaving towns at night? Didn't she ever stay anywhere for more than a day? She must have, if she just got to Slateport today. He wondered in the back of his mind if she got her second gym badge in Dewford; she had to have. He didn't imagine that she would move on to Slateport if she didn't.

"Nope," Stern said, shaking his head. "I'd tell ya to go look for her on Route 110, but the cops over there already did that. Said she wasn't there."

Steven tried not to let the worry show on his face, but he must have failed, for Stern frowned and slowly asked, "Why? Ya know her or somethin'?"

Steven shook himself out of his thoughts and gave a small smile. "Excuse me," he said, ducking away and approaching the police officers, who were still gathered around some of the museum personnel.

They stopped talking as soon as he approached. They gave him a weird look, and he sighed. "Steven Stone. Devon Corp vice president."

Their faces brightened immediately, several of them exclaiming, "Oh!" and one of them patting him on his back and saying how much he resembled his father. Steven blanched. On one hand, he hated not being recognized; with as much as he did for Devon Corp, he was practically the CEO by now, and he wished people would stop underestimating him just because he was young (sure, twenty-one was a bit young to be running a business, but still). On the other hand, he would hate to go everywhere and be constantly stopped because people knew him from Devon, just like his father.

He would hate to be constantly compared to his father.

Steven got to work helping the police fill out the full report. They asked him about the ship parts that Devon had sent to Captain Stern, and asked what the gang- Team Magma- could possibly want with them.

"Well, they... they're really just ship parts," Steven explained, a bit exasperated. "They really can't be used for much else. Unless Team Magma is repairing an old boat or trying to build a submarine, I can't exactly say what they would possibly want them for. Do you have any leads?"

The officers once again exchanged looks with each other, and again Steven felt a twinge of anger. Eventually, one said, "Just rumors. Some civilians say they've heard talk of Magma... reviving the ancient Pokemon Groudon."

"That's just nonsense, though," a female officer added.

"Perhaps..." Steven murmured, running a hand through his hair. "But if it's true?"

The same officer rolled her eyes. "It's not. Nobody even knows the location of the sleeping legendary. Plus, why would anybody ever want to bring back a creature that once almost destroyed Hoenn?"

In the back of his head, Steven already had a long list of reasons. Instead of voicing them, however, he just murmured, "Of course. You're right." He pulled his PokeNav out of his pocket to check the time. After midnight, now. "Well, officers, if that's all you need from me..." He turned to go, but one of the officers reached out and touched his arm.

"Wait, Mr. Stone. One more question." He looked back at the officer expectantly. "The girl who was here earlier. Do you know her? People around town have been saying that she's a trainer named May, but it's hard to trust hearsay."

May. It really was her, then. Steven's heart seemed to beat just a bit faster. "I know of her. She was at Devon Corp last week. She retrieved the same parts as the ones that were stolen again today."

The police officer frowned at him. "Same girl, in two different cases of theft? Sounds a bit suspicious, to me."

Steven's eyes widened. "What are you- are you implying that she had something to do with it? Why would she stop Team Magma if she did?"

The female officer shrugged. "Maybe it's a cover-up. Trying to get everybody's guard down before she strikes."

Steven felt himself filled with anger and a sudden need to defend the girl who he hardly knew. "I can assure you, she did not have anything to do with this. That girl is nothing but a trainer who is working to become Champion and is being a Good Samaritan along the way."

The officer eyed him up suspiciously for a moment before shrugging once more. She popped a piece of chewing gum. "If you say so." She walked off, and it was only then that Steven realized that most of the other cops had dispersed as well. He was left standing in front of only one- the one who had said earlier how he looked like his father. He smiled politely at the man, who had tiredness in his aged eyes.

"Hope you're sure about that girl, son," the man said, sighing.

"I am." How could he not be? And since when did police start jumping to conclusions like that, and based on what? Simply the fact that she was present in both scenarios?

"If I were you, I'd be keeping an eye out for her. See what she gets up to," the man said. "We never got to reach her for a comment, but if you see her again, try and get one for us." He paused. "You do think you'll see her again at some point?"

For the first time all day, Steven gave a genuine smile (albeit a tired, somewhat-sad one). "Yeah," he said. "I definitely will."

When Steven finally left the museum, he realized with dread that it would now make more sense just to go back to Rustboro. He had really been all over the region today.

He called his Skarmory out of its Pokeball and climbed on the back of it, starting his journey back to his apartment. They flew above the ocean, high enough that he could see the lights of the cities in the distance, but low enough that he could smell the salt in the water. As the sea spray hit his face, he closed his eyes and drifted off to thoughts of sapphire eyes.